Various devices and approaches have been developed to treat food products that may have been exposed to disease producing bacteria, viruses, spores and other vectors, and to neutralize or remove harmful chemicals, including toxins, pesticides, or other substances that may have been applied to food items, such as meat, fish, fruits and vegetables, and dairy products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,304 (Wen) discloses a food article washer that includes a container for holding food articles, such as fruits and vegetables, and an ultrasonic generator to loosen dirt and debris from the surface of the food, and to provide agitation to the cleaning liquid to help remove insecticides and other possibly toxic substances thereon. The food article washer also includes an ultraviolet light generator to kill pathogens inhabiting the food surface, including disease-causing bacteria, viruses, spores and protozoa.
Others have discussed air purifiers or filters to remove airborne disease pathogens, as well as to neutralize toxic substances in the air. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,647,890 (Yamamoto); 5,779,769 (Jiang); 6,296,692 (Gutmann); 6,203,600 (Loreth); 5,656,063 (Hsu); and U.S. Published Patent Application No. 20010043887 (Mornecult) disclose various types of air purifiers. They appear to use a combination of techniques to remove air impurities. In several of the systems, ionization removes airborne particulates, such as dirt, dust, smoke, asbestos, and other solid dry particles. An ozone source present in some of the purifiers helps remove noxious odors and chemical contaminants, as well as airborne pathogens.
A need exists for an improved infection and toxin eliminating device. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an infection and toxin elimination device, which can remove pathogens, insecticides and toxic substances from food articles, utensils, toys, clothing and other articles, substantially without damaging the item being treated.